Paint Me a Birmingham...

I was in the car today, enjoying the great weather, and listening to country music. Spring is the season for country. I don't know why that's so, but every spring, I bust out all my country songs that have been hibernating through winter. On came Tracy Lawrence's "Paint Me a Birmingham." 

The song is the story of a guy coming upon a street painter who said he will paint any scene for $20. 

Could you paint me a Birmingham

Make it look just the way I planned

A little house on the edge of town

Porch going all the way around

Put her there in the front yard swing

Cotton dress, make it early spring

For a while she'll be mine again

If you can paint me a Birmingham

I was struck with the thought of how disappointing life can be. We have these grandiose plans that usually don't happen. And every failed dream leaves a bit of pain in our already fragile hearts. I find myself often living in the tension between dreaming big and being realistic. I believe we serve a God who created us to dream. But on the flip side, life doesn't happen the way we planned. Life lived in this fallen world isn't as He wants it to be, either.

Some of our dreams, like a white front porch on a perfectly placed house, slip away from us as life happens. Other dreams, like growing old with your best friend, sometimes have to be literally buried. It is the death of those dreams that feed my pessimistic side - why bother hoping when it will only bring disappointment?

But I guess the only answer that calms my confused heart is that God is still sovereign. In the middle of dying dreams, or the pain from letting go, God picks up the pieces and forms new dreams in our heart. We not only serve a God who is Hope, but we serve a God who is Healer. 

Too many of my buried dreams have left little bits of hurt and anger in my heart, and in need of healing. The only way to deal with the coming and going of life is to let our dreams reside in God. He is the One who can handle them, and the One who can reform them when life hits us hard.

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Lesson for Today: Mmmm, Cadbury Eggs. Another great thing about Spring.